In heraldry, tinctures are the colours used to emblazon a coat of arms(a design belonging to a particular person (or group of people) and used by them in a wide variety of ways. They were once used by knights to identify them apart from enemy soldiers.). In medicine, a tincture is an alcoholic extract or solution of a non-volatile substance; e.g. of iodine. To qualify as a tincture, the alcoholic extract is to have a ethanol percentage of at least 40-60%. Solutions of volatile substances were called spirits, although that name was also given to several other materials obtained by distillation.